An Indianola man took his life because he believed he was suffering from the crippling effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a disease caused by severe or repeated hits to the head.

An Indianola man took his life because he believed he was suffering from the crippling effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a disease caused by severe or repeated hits to the head.

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Updated: 9:35 PM CDT May 27, 2016

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WEBVTT A young Indianola man took his own life - because he believed he was suffering from the crippling effects of C-T-E -- It's a disease caused by severe, or repeated hits to the head. KCCI's Mark Tauscheck joins us now ... Mark, this man's family learned something new this week? Yes, the family of Zac Easter, just got confirmation the 24-year-old did indeed have C-T-E - and the kind of brain damage previously only seen in people with Alzheimer's and dementia. Zac Easter suffered at least 5 concussions as a football player in Indianola...anothe r in the national guard and a 7th in a car accident... Just after midnight, December 19th, Zac shot himself in the heart...at Lake Aqhuabi...taking care not to damage his brain...that he believed had been ravaged by Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy... C-T-E ... 22:13-"it looks like a lot, I suppose it is ..." When he started suffering severe headaches, problems with balance and vision, memory loss and slurred speech, his parents urged him to start documenting his daily battle... These notebooks detail his downward spiral... Myles easter - Zac's brother - 16:53-"it was more or less, he was documenting how he felt." At Zac's request - his brain was sent to Dr. Bennet Omalu...the California neuropathologist who discovered C-T-E and was portrayed by Will Smith in the movie concussion...this week, the Easters found out Omalu's office confirmed C-T-E in Zak's brain. Brenda - 4:50-"it was emotional, satisfying, yet makes me really sad. Zac's mother will be sending her son's journals to Dr. Omalu to help his research - as her son also requested.. 3:40-"and knowing his last wishes was to give somebody else hope...it's brought us a little peace." Omalu told me by phone the notes will be valuable. 12:36:57-"it will be a window into that person's mind - it will actually help me understand the disease better." Now the Easter's focus i fighting to fulfill Zac's wish - to better educate athletes and parents about the importance of identifying concussions...an d not ignoring any head trauma especially in athletics...Zac' mother says the official CTE diagnosis ...will push her t honor her son's final wish. 15:36-"doesn't make it easie but it does make me understand why in his heart it was more important to help someone else than himself." Dr. Omalu told me Zac is only one of the approximately 150 C-T-E diagnoses made since the disease was first identified... back in 2002.

Doctor's office confirms Indianola man suffered from CTE

An Indianola man took his life because he believed he was suffering from the crippling effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy, a disease caused by severe or repeated hits to the head.